Oil for Scandal

Wall Street Journal ^ | March 18, 2004 | Editorial

[OESY]

The $100 billion Iraqi Oil for Food program was by far the largest relief operation in the history of the United Nations. By extension, it's rapidly becoming the U.N.'s largest-ever scandal.

After months of stonewalling, Secretary General Kofi Annan conceded Tuesday that the program was worthy of an internal investigation. It's a step forward, but it's not nearly enough for an organization that so far has shown it can't be trusted to police itself. That's why the April hearings by Henry Hyde's House Committee on International Relations will be so important. Oil for Food is a legitimate U.S. concern, for reasons that go well beyond the fact that U.S. taxpayers foot about a quarter of the U.N.'s bills.

[OESY]

Let the hearings begin! It's time we got to the bottom of this scandal.

[blanknoone]

These hearings will be scheduled just after the Memogate hearings and Teddy Kennedy's murder trial for Chappaquiddick.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

then they in particular have an obligation to ensure that the world body is both effective and free of corruption.

But then the UN Headquarters would be an empty building!

[kcvl]

Shakir al-Khafaji, who funded Scott Ritter's anti-sanctions "documentary" and arranged a trip to Baghdad by three Democratic congressmen:

Al-Khafaji first came to public notice after revelations that he gave former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter $400,000 to produce a film that criticized the United States for its role in the inspection process. Al-Khafaji, who is listed as a "senior executive producer" of the film, arranged meetings for Ritter with high-level officials in Saddam's government, a feat New York Times magazine writer Barry Bearak found "impressive." Ritter had previously been an outspoken critic of Saddam Hussein, and issued dire warnings about the status of the Iraqi dictator's weapons of mass destruction. His sudden flip--he is now a leading apologist for Saddam's regime--and revelations about Ritter's 2001 arrest for soliciting sex with minors have fueled speculation about the nature of his relationship with al-Khafaji.

Al-Khafaji has long claimed that he cares only about the Iraqi people, an assertion too preposterous even for Ritter, who told THE WEEKLY STANDARD in 2001 that his patron was "openly sympathetic with the regime in Baghdad." That stands to reason. The Falcon Trading Group, a company that al-Khafaji founded in 1993 in Johannesburg, South Africa, has done nearly $70 million of business with Saddam's regime.

Al-Khafaji told Baghdad Radio on June 14, 2000, that he hoped to arrange a delegation so that members of the U.S. Congress could "get acquainted with the Iraqi people's suffering as a result of the unjust embargo clamped on it." He got his wish two years later, when he accompanied Reps. Jim McDermott, Jim Thompson, and David Bonior to Baghdad last fall.

McDermott, in particular, caused quite a fuss when in a September 29 appearance on ABC's "This Week" from Baghdad, he claimed, "The president of the United States will lie to the American people in order to get us into this war." Moments later, despite 12 years of evidence that the Iraqi regime had lied about its weapons program, McDermott said, "I think you have to take the Iraqis on their face value."

Al-Khafaji also contributed $5,000.00 to McDermott's legal defence fund. (He's being sued for defamation by a GOP congressman.) The congressmen may be useful idiots and nothing more, but shouldn't this be getting at least some attention outside of the Weekly Standard?

[Judith Anne]

The corrupt Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan--and before him, Butros-Butros Ghali--are DIRECTLY to blame for starvation and lack of medical care for the suffering people of Iraq.

I find it searingly ironic that Saddam, who colluded in these filthy killing deals, blamed the US for the hardship of "his" people, all the while lining the pockets of the double-dealing scum in the UN, along with his own.

[Doc-Joe]

bump

[Mo1]

Oh my my

[mewzilla]

Screw the internal investigation. The Iraqis should sue. Those billions belong to them.

[The G Man]

"The prima facie evidence of mismanagement alone is strong enough to call into question the remainder of Mr. Annan's tenure ..."

Paging Senor Aznar, Senor Jose Maria Aznar ... time to fire up the resume!

[kcvl]

One of those "Saddam friends" is Shakir al-Khafaji, an Iraqi-American businessman from Detroit. Since 1992, al-Khafaji has served as president of the regime-backed Expatriate Conferences, held in Baghdad every other year. The government provided subsidized travel for Iraqis living outside of the country.

At the 2000 Expatriate Conference, according to a report in the Jewish newspaper Forward, Al-Khafaji appeared on stage with Tariq Aziz, who was then foreign minister. The pair railed about economic sanctions, which they said were starving the Iraqi people. The official conference website accuses the United States of "terrorism and genocide" in Iraq.


The same gentleman that got Mr. Scott Ritter an audience with Saddam Hussein. The SAME gentleman that has of 3/31/2003 $1,000 to Senator and presidential candidate John Kerry..............

[kcvl]

Saddam backs increase in trade with SA

A pioneer group of South African businessmen participating in this year’s Baghdad international trade fair which opened last week welcomed Saddam’s support for increased trade relations with South Africa. “Iraqi authorities already hold South Africa’s products and technology in high esteem and with Saddam now issuing instructions to in- crease trade with South Africa, the prospects for South Africans securing regular million-dollar contracts with Iraq look good,” said international business facilitator Rodney Hemphill, of Falcon Trading.

Having got involved in trade with Iraq by sheer chance 10 years ago when asked to source 25 000 tons (two shiploads) of sugar for sale to the Iraqi government, Mr Hemphill has since concluded more than 100 business deals in excess of R500-million. “And this is just a tiny slice of what’s available,” he said. “World-wide trade in food and technology with Iraq over the past six years has amounted to $35-billion (R346,5-billion).”

Mr Hemphill’s partner and international trader, Shakir Alkhafaji, said even under the current rigorous sanctions, Iraq’s economy was equal to the Arab-Gulf countries combined. “War will destroy this all,” he said.

More...

[mewzilla]

If everything that could come out does come out, and this is just the tip of the iceberg, it should mean the end of the UN as we know it. If I were the Iraqis, I wouldn't let this rest. They've got more power than they know.

[kcvl]

In May 1993, Vittor was the principal, managing partner, and trader for Falcon Trading Group, Ltd. ("Falcon"), which was then a registered broker-dealer and NASD member. On June 27, 1994, the NASD’s Market Surveillance Committee ("MSC") took disciplinary action against Vittor and Falcon for failing to honor trades in securities of a company called Spectrum Information Technologies, Inc. ("Spectrum") and for associating with Philip Gurian ("Gurian"), an individual whose registration the NASD had previously revoked.1 Specifically, the MSC ordered Vittor and Falcon to pay restitution to Paine Webber, Inc. and Lehman Brothers, Inc. and fined Vittor and Falcon for failing to honor these trades and for associating with Gurian.

[Judith Anne]

Isn't al-Khafaji the same guy who paid Scott Ritter 400,000 to make an anti-American documentary?

Scott Ritter was also arrested trying to pick up a (girl he thought was) 14 yo at a Burger King in a police sting.

I believe, and it's just an opinion, that he was filmed in Iraq with underage girls, and blackmailed, frankly. Some UN inspector HE turned out to be--going from a fervent searcher for WMD that he was certain were in Iraq to an anti-American wimp overnight.

Filth at the UN...NO MORE TAX DOLLARS TO THE CORRUPT KILLERS AT THE UN!

[kcvl]

Yes, the same man. Al-Khafaji also accompanied Reps. Jim McDermott, Jim Thompson, and David Bonior to Baghdad last fall.

[mict42]

This is potentially the killer story for the UN. How can the world trust? The wolves are in the hen house.

[kcvl]

Documents recently discovered by the Coalition Provisional Authority, and corroborated by interviews with former Iraqi officials, confirm that Saddam Hussein extorted cash kickbacks from companies trading with Iraq under the U.N. Oil-for-Food Program. The most damning document is a memo dated Aug. 3, 2000, by Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan (now in U.S. custody) instructing his ministers to tell their suppliers to inflate their prices by the "biggest percentage possible."

[GailA]

MASTER LIST OIL FOR FOOD SCANDAL

[Allan]

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